QuoteProject
I don't see anything that's come out on WikiLeaks that was a legitimate secret.
Noam Chomsky
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Chomsky implies that the information released by WikiLeaks lacks true confidential status.

Noam Chomsky's quote highlights his skepticism regarding the nature of the leaks provided by WikiLeaks, suggesting that they do not expose any genuine secrets but rather information that is already known or not truly hidden. This reflects on the relationship between public knowledge, government transparency, and the nature of secrets in politics.

Themes

WikileaksSecretsTruthGovernmentInformation

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about transparency, one might say, 'As Noam Chomsky wisely noted, I don't see anything that's come out on WikiLeaks that was a legitimate secret.'

More from Noam Chomsky

There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
Noam ChomskyRead
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
Noam ChomskyRead
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
Noam ChomskyRead
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
Noam ChomskyRead
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
Noam ChomskyRead

Similar quotes

Accuracy to a newspaper is what virtue is to a lady; but a newspaper can always print a retraction.
Adlai E. StevensonRead
The dual substance of Christ - the yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain God. [...] has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me. [...] My principle anguish and source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh. [...] And my soul is the arena where these two armies have clashed and met.
Nikos KazantzakisRead
Most world religions denounced war as a barbaric waste of human life. We treasured the teachings of these religions so dearly that we frequently had to wage war in order to impose them on other people.
Jon StewartRead
In the Buddhist approach, life and death are seen as one whole, where death is the beginning of another chapter of life. Death is the mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected.
Sogyal RinpocheRead
Men's lives have meaning, not their deaths.
George R. R. MartinRead
Deliberate violence is more to be quenched than a fire
HeraclitusRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.